Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort

by Matthew Montfort

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Digital 1 Sheet (552 k, streaming audio)
Hi-Rez Square Cover Art (1.1 MB)
Hi-Rez Cover Art (912 k)
Hi-Rez Artist Photo (2 MB)

(Ancient-Future.Com 2008. CD Release Date: February 10, 2009. iTunes Preview: October 14, 2008. )
Pre-Release Signed CD- $24.98: Add 1 to Cart. Buy 1 Now.

This debut recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. While previously known more for his compositions for the trendsetting world music group Ancient Future, this first solo effort features his improvisational music.

Biography

"Matthew Montfort conjures lovely Asian
zither-like inflections with a scalloped fretboard guitar."
– GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE

As leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort has devoted himself to the scalloped fretboard guitar since 1978. He spent years of study with some of the world’s best musicians, such as gamelan director K.R.T. Wasitodipuro, North Indian sarod master Ali Akbar Khan, and vina master K.S. Subramanian, with whom he did an intensive study of South Indian note-bending techniques. He has performed concerts worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai. He has worked with many world music legends, including tabla phenomenon Zakir Hussain and Chinese zither master Zhao Hui. Montfort wrote the book “Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India,” which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills.

The Scalloped Fretboard Guitar

In late 1978, luthier Ervin Somogyi carved
out the wood between the frets so that the pads of
Montfort’s fingers touch only the strings, reducing
friction while he bends them to produce ornaments more
characteristic of the sitar. While visually subtle, the
difference in sound is striking.

Scalloped fretboards are not new to string instruments. Many lutes have scalloped fretboards, some of purely ornamental nature. However, scalloping a fretboard on a guitar in order to facilitate note bending is a relatively new phenomenon.

Montfort is a pioneer among guitarists who have had their fretboards scalloped in order to play various forms of world music that require intricate note-bending ornaments while still being able to play chords. Montfort immersed himself in an intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. The method is based on pulling the strings across the frets in order to raise the pitch.

Montfort's transcription of South Indian vina music is available for those who wish to study these note-bending techniques.

Seven Serenades Concept

Born of an emergency drive-by serenade
rendezvous. Seven serenades following the muse on
the path of improvisation, inspired and informed by
the great musical traditions, but not bound by them.
Improvisations becoming compositions of longing
captured at the moment of conception.

The idea for this recording grew out of an emergency drive-by serenade. I'll spare you the personal details of the events leading up to my sudden inspiration to perform an impromptu serenade. The important point is that I found the music improvised in that romantic moment had a special quality to it that would be wonderful to capture.

For many years, people have been asking me to make a recording focusing on my scalloped fretboard guitar playing. The focus of my recording work with Ancient Future has always been to make each composition the best representation of the piece possible, using whatever instruments or techniques I find necessary. Yet in concert, my focus is making the best music in that moment with the musicians who are performing for that particular audience. The two are very different perspectives. So for this recording, I decided not to compose any music in advance, but rather to improvise the pieces in my home studio whenever the muse arose.

I'm now happy to share with you these improvisations recorded in moments of inspiration.

Yours in serenade,

Matthew Montfort

The Serenades

100% Organic Loop Free Music
64 Bit Tuned Harmonic Mastering
Total Time: 56:25

Track List (>audio. Play all tracks)

Gauri the Golden (Montfort) 8:43 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Patti Weiss (electric violins), Alan Tower (didjeridu). The didjeridu provides an intense drone bed while the guitar’s plaintive calls and the violin’s soaring responses create a contemporary interpretation of the North Indian musical form known as alap (a rubato exploration of melody without rhythmic accompaniment).
Sangria (Mariah Parker) 6:03 (>audio). Mariah Parker (santur), Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Patti Weiss (violin). Mariah Parker composed this soulful 7/8 composition in D minor for this project.
Soul Serenade (Montfort) 6:28 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar). This improvisation in E minor captures the feeling of the initial emergency drive-by serenade that inspired this recording.
Michelle’s Star (Montfort) 5:50 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitars). Written as a gift of longing, the recording equipment was turned on during the composition process, capturing the very moments this song in 5/8 was conceived.
Celtic Raga (Montfort) 8:43 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar). This improvisation applies Indian melodic exploration techniques to a prominent scale used in Celtic music.
Purple Raga (Montfort) 5:59 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Alan Tower (didjeridu). A modern "raga" based on the music of Jimi Hendrix. Underneath, the didjeridu drones a chord in overtones: a D7#9, also known as the “Jimi Hendrix chord.”
Lilalit (Montfort) 14:21 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar). This serenade for Lila falls within the scale of Rag Lalit, a raga often portrayed in ragamala paintings as a lover looking back as he departs from his sleeping beauty before sunrise.

Quotes

"I first realized Matthew Montfort was a true guitar wizard when he called me on the phone and played me one flawless Hendrix riff after another. We were in the seventh grade. By the time we escaped high school, Matt had gone acoustic, turning coffee house basements into his own planet with fierce improvisations touching on an occasional Spanish or Celtic launching pad.

Now a pioneering master of world fusion, Matt continues to travel, study, absorb and immerse himself in musics and traditions all over the globe. His knowledge and depth are staggering, yet he doesn't let it get in the way of the joy and spirit and soul that we like about music in the first place.

The sparkling presence and sustain you hear is not an amplified acoustic with a lot of reverb, but a scalloped fretboard guitar. Matt's the only person I know who can play one. Most rock musicians I've mentioned it to seem shocked that it even exists.

The Mid-Eastern ventures are my favorite." – Jello Biafra, (seminal punk rock singer, Dead Kennedy front man turned spoken word activist, politician, mail recycler) ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES RECORDS, Sept. 06, 2008

“The most beautiful, soulful guitar I have ever heard!!”–Chandi Devi, Editor-in-Chief, Karmacaffe.com

“Master of the scalloped fretboard guitar.” – J. Poet, EAST BAY EXPRESS

"Matthew Montfort is an American Ravi Shankar on guitar."–Pandit Habib Khan, sitarist

“Matthew Montfort's synthesis of styles and sounds isn't superficial -- he plucks the essential musicality of several traditions without discounting them. Beautiful world fusion music." – Roger Carlberg, ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN

"A giant, a leader, a bound-and-determined self described fanatic forworld music." – NEWCOLORADO

“Guitarrista multipremiado, Montfort es un pionero de la scalloped fretboard guitar.” – PUTUMAYO RECORDS

“MatthewMontfort plays a special, scalloped fretboard acoustic instrument that lets him get the bends of an Indian sitar. He uses it to weave seductive melodies.” – John Diliberto (host of Echoes, syndicated on PRI stations)

“Guitar is seldom featured in Indian classical music – yet Montfort is a pioneer of such and uses the scalloped fretboard guitar to bring out the best in Indian sounds. His background as a student of the notoriously-difficult sitar lends to translations which shine on guitar” – WorldDiscoveries.net

© info. E-mail: info@ancient-future.com

by Matthew Montfort

Press Center: Digital 1 Sheet (552 k, streaming audio) Hi-Rez Square Cover Art (1.1 MB) Hi-Rez Cover Art (912 k) Hi-Rez Artist Photo (2 MB)
(Ancient-Future.Com 2008. CD Release Date: February 10, 2009. iTunes Preview: October 14, 2008. ) Pre-Release Signed CD- $24.98: Add 1 to Cart. Buy 1 Now.

This debut recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. While previously known more for his compositions for the trendsetting world music group Ancient Future, this first solo effort features his improvisational music.

Biography
		"Matthew Montfort conjures lovely Asian zither-like inflections with a scalloped fretboard guitar." – GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE

As leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort has devoted himself to the scalloped fretboard guitar since 1978. He spent years of study with some of the world’s best musicians, such as gamelan director K.R.T. Wasitodipuro, North Indian sarod master Ali Akbar Khan, and vina master K.S. Subramanian, with whom he did an intensive study of South Indian note-bending techniques. He has performed concerts worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai. He has worked with many world music legends, including tabla phenomenon Zakir Hussain and Chinese zither master Zhao Hui. Montfort wrote the book “Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India,” which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills.

The Scalloped Fretboard Guitar
		In late 1978, luthier Ervin Somogyi carved out the wood between the frets so that the pads of Montfort’s fingers touch only the strings, reducing friction while he bends them to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. While visually subtle, the difference in sound is striking.

Scalloped fretboards are not new to string instruments. Many lutes have scalloped fretboards, some of purely ornamental nature. However, scalloping a fretboard on a guitar in order to facilitate note bending is a relatively new phenomenon. Montfort is a pioneer among guitarists who have had their fretboards scalloped in order to play various forms of world music that require intricate note-bending ornaments while still being able to play chords. Montfort immersed himself in an intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. The method is based on pulling the strings across the frets in order to raise the pitch. Montfort's transcription of South Indian vina music is available for those who wish to study these note-bending techniques.

Seven Serenades Concept
		Born of an emergency drive-by serenade rendezvous. Seven serenades following the muse on the path of improvisation, inspired and informed by the great musical traditions, but not bound by them. Improvisations becoming compositions of longing captured at the moment of conception.


The idea for this recording grew out of an emergency drive-by serenade. I'll spare you the personal details of the events leading up to my sudden inspiration to perform an impromptu serenade. The important point is that I found the music improvised in that romantic moment had a special quality to it that would be wonderful to capture. For many years, people have been asking me to make a recording focusing on my scalloped fretboard guitar playing. The focus of my recording work with Ancient Future has always been to make each composition the best representation of the piece possible, using whatever instruments or techniques I find necessary. Yet in concert, my focus is making the best music in that moment with the musicians who are performing for that particular audience. The two are very different perspectives. So for this recording, I decided not to compose any music in advance, but rather to improvise the pieces in my home studio whenever the muse arose. I'm now happy to share with you these improvisations recorded in moments of inspiration. Yours in serenade, Matthew Montfort
The Serenades
		100% Organic Loop Free Music 64 Bit Tuned Harmonic Mastering Total Time: 56:25

Track List (>audio. Play all tracks) Gauri the Golden (Montfort) 8:43 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Patti Weiss (electric violins), Alan Tower (didjeridu). The didjeridu provides an intense drone bed while the guitar’s plaintive calls and the violin’s soaring responses create a contemporary interpretation of the North Indian musical form known as alap (a rubato exploration of melody without rhythmic accompaniment). Sangria (Mariah Parker) 6:03 (>audio). Mariah Parker (santur), Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Patti Weiss (violin). Mariah Parker composed this soulful 7/8 composition in D minor for this project. Soul Serenade (Montfort) 6:28 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar). This improvisation in E minor captures the feeling of the initial emergency drive-by serenade that inspired this recording. Michelle’s Star (Montfort) 5:50 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitars). Written as a gift of longing, the recording equipment was turned on during the composition process, capturing the very moments this song in 5/8 was conceived. Celtic Raga (Montfort) 8:43 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar). This improvisation applies Indian melodic exploration techniques to a prominent scale used in Celtic music. Purple Raga (Montfort) 5:59 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Alan Tower (didjeridu). A modern "raga" based on the music of Jimi Hendrix. Underneath, the didjeridu drones a chord in overtones: a D7#9, also known as the “Jimi Hendrix chord.” Lilalit (Montfort) 14:21 (>audio). Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar). This serenade for Lila falls within the scale of Rag Lalit, a raga often portrayed in ragamala paintings as a lover looking back as he departs from his sleeping beauty before sunrise.

Quotes "I first realized Matthew Montfort was a true guitar wizard when he called me on the phone and played me one flawless Hendrix riff after another. We were in the seventh grade. By the time we escaped high school, Matt had gone acoustic, turning coffee house basements into his own planet with fierce improvisations touching on an occasional Spanish or Celtic launching pad. Now a pioneering master of world fusion, Matt continues to travel, study, absorb and immerse himself in musics and traditions all over the globe. His knowledge and depth are staggering, yet he doesn't let it get in the way of the joy and spirit and soul that we like about music in the first place. The sparkling presence and sustain you hear is not an amplified acoustic with a lot of reverb, but a scalloped fretboard guitar. Matt's the only person I know who can play one. Most rock musicians I've mentioned it to seem shocked that it even exists. The Mid-Eastern ventures are my favorite." – Jello Biafra, (seminal punk rock singer, Dead Kennedy front man turned spoken word activist, politician, mail recycler) ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES RECORDS, Sept. 06, 2008 “The most beautiful, soulful guitar I have ever heard!!”–Chandi Devi, Editor-in-Chief, Karmacaffe.com “Master of the scalloped fretboard guitar.” – J. Poet, EAST BAY EXPRESS "Matthew Montfort is an American Ravi Shankar on guitar."–Pandit Habib Khan, sitarist “Matthew Montfort's synthesis of styles and sounds isn't superficial -- he plucks the essential musicality of several traditions without discounting them. Beautiful world fusion music." – Roger Carlberg, ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN "A giant, a leader, a bound-and-determined self described fanatic forworld music." – NEWCOLORADO “Guitarrista multipremiado, Montfort es un pionero de la scalloped fretboard guitar.” – PUTUMAYO RECORDS “MatthewMontfort plays a special, scalloped fretboard acoustic instrument that lets him get the bends of an Indian sitar. He uses it to weave seductive melodies.” – John Diliberto (host of Echoes, syndicated on PRI stations) “Guitar is seldom featured in Indian classical music – yet Montfort is a pioneer of such and uses the scalloped fretboard guitar to bring out the best in Indian sounds. His background as a student of the notoriously-difficult sitar lends to translations which shine on guitar” – WorldDiscoveries.net